In praise of the everyday: Trust and the art of social living in an Amazonian community

Overing, Joanna

doi:10.1080/0014184032000134469

Cited by 51 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…The demand‐sharing model described above indicated that ownership over material goods does not precisely imply exclusive rights because all possessions can in theory be appropriated through demands. Control over one's labour, on the other hand, is the essence of the autonomous self in Amazonia (Clastres : 168‐9; Overing : 307; Santos Granero : 664) and people can be made to do chores only through leading by example or the gentle persuasion of others, never by coercion (see Brown ). This autonomous subjectivity is indeed integral to Sanema personhood; emphasized in the closing phrase, ‘I'm just like that’ ( ina sa kuaö ), which is regularly tacked on to the end of personal stories or accounts to emphasize unique characteristics, perspectives, and choices.…”

Section: Dodging Debts As a Predatory Actmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dodged debts and the submissive predator: perspectives on Amazonian relations of dependence

Penfield

2017

Royal Anthropological Inst

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This article explores the nature of inter‐ethnic asymmetry and the dynamic of long‐term dependence in Amazonia. Drawing on the case of the Sanema and their neighbouring Ye'kwana, it seeks to gain a deeper understanding of submission and indebtedness with a view to rethinking where the power might lie in such relationships. The association between the two groups, I argue, is motivated by the Sanema's pursuit of manufactured items, access to which the Ye'kwana had historically monopolized. The dynamic entered into in order to procure these goods is one of voluntary deference on the part of the Sanema, a demeanour that is actively pursued because it enables morally valued autonomy and a freedom from ongoing reciprocity. I conclude that this ‘submissive extraction’ can offer new perspectives on the relationship between debt, predation, and freedom.

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Section: Dodging Debts As a Predatory Actmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dodged debts and the submissive predator: perspectives on Amazonian relations of dependence

Penfield

2017

Royal Anthropological Inst

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“…This focus on collective conversion should not lead us to ignore the emphasis that Waorani and other indigenous Amazonian people place on personal autonomy. While close ties of mutuality are created and maintained by living together, there is less attention to how a seemingly anarchic insistence on individual autonomy is conjoined with an emphasis on becoming “a community of similars” (Overing :300). Joanna Overing observes that in contrast to the radically interiorized Western notion of self and “the dominant strand of our own individualism that states the superiority of the disengaged ego,” in Amazonia personal autonomy is a social capacity through which such a community is created.…”

Section: Converting the Collective And The Individual In Amazoniamentioning

confidence: 99%

“A Little Bit Christian”: Memories of Conversion and Community in Post-Christian Amazonia

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2016

American Anthropologist

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Conversion to Christianity in Amazonia is often described in terms of collective action rather than radically new beliefs interior to the individual. I describe how Waorani people in Ecuador remember the conversion of specific elders as a time of civilization that brought Waorani into a wider social order after a period of violence and isolation. Despite having largely abandoned Christianity since their mass conversion in the 1960s, Waorani today embrace past conversion as a catalyst of social transformation that they say made the present ideal of living in a "community" possible. The individual experiences evoked in memories of collective "civilization" and an insistence on personal autonomy in Waorani visions of community illustrate why the moral commentaries of Waorani Christians remain highly valued in communities where Christianity has ceased to be a dominant social identity. [conversion to Christianity, memory, temporality, Amazonian personhood, community, Waorani] RESUMEN La conversión al cristianismo en la Amazonía es a menudo descrita en términos de una acción colectiva más que radicalmente nuevas creencias interiores para el individuo. Describo cómo los waorani en el Ecuador recuerdan la conversión de determinados adultos mayores como un período de "civilización" que trajo a los waorani a un orden social más amplio después de un período de violencia y aislamiento. A pesar de haber abandonado largamente el cristianismo desde su conversión masiva en los 1960s, los waorani hoy asumen su pasado como un catalizador de transformación social que ellos dicen hizo posible el actual ideal de vivir en comunidad. Las experiencias individuales evocadas en memorias de "civilización" colectiva y una insistencia en autonomía personal en las visiones waorani de comunidad ilustran por qué los comentarios morales de los cristianos waorani permanecen altamente valorados en comunidades donde el cristianismo ha cesado de ser una identidad social dominante.[conversión al cristianismo, temporalidad de memoria, condición de personas de los Amazonenses, comunidad, Waorani]

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“…Al proponer esto, sostengo que la Comunidad Nativa se ha convertido en una parte clave del actual proyecto asháninka que concierne la búsqueda del kametsa asaiki. Voy a considerar primero la crítica que se ha hecho a la Comunidad Nativa desde la década de 1980, para luego pasar a revisar el caso específico de los asháninkas, y las oportunidades que la Comunidad Nativa les da para poder formar una «comunidad de similares» (Overing, 2003) en la vida cotidiana. La forma tan positiva en la que mis colaboradores asháninkas hablan de la Comunidad Nativa nos presenta una especie de enigma etnográfico.…”

Section: Introducción: La Comunidad Y La Comunidadunclassified

La comunidad en los tiempos de la Comunidad: bienestar en las Comunidades Nativas asháninkas

Barletti¹,

Pablo²

2016

bifea

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In praise of the everyday: Trust and the art of social living in an Amazonian community

Cited by 51 publications

References 0 publications

Dodged debts and the submissive predator: perspectives on Amazonian relations of dependence

Dodged debts and the submissive predator: perspectives on Amazonian relations of dependence

“A Little Bit Christian”: Memories of Conversion and Community in Post-Christian Amazonia

La comunidad en los tiempos de la Comunidad: bienestar en las Comunidades Nativas asháninkas

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